A horizontal axis washing machine appliance generally includes a cabinet with a wash tub mounted therein. A wash drum can be rotatably mounted within the wash tub and can receive articles for washing through an opening. The wash drum generally includes a plurality of holes so as to allow the flow of a fluid, such as air or a wash liquid, between the wash drum and wash tub.
During a wash cycle of the washing machine appliance, wash liquid, e.g., detergent, fabric softener, water, and/or bleach, can fill the wash tub to an appropriate level and be applied to articles within the wash basket. Such wash liquid can assist with cleaning of the articles, e.g., as the articles are agitated during the wash cycle. After the wash cycle, the washing machine appliance can rinse the wash fluid from the articles using, e.g., fresh water. Before and/or after the rinse cycle, the washing machine appliance can initiate one or more spin cycles to remove liquids from the articles. During the spin cycles, the wash drum is rotated by a washer motor within the wash tub to wring liquid from the articles, such that liquid flows out of the articles, through the plurality of holes in the wash drum, and drains out of the wash tub.
Following one or more wash cycles and spin cycles, the washing machine appliance can be equipped to initiate a drying cycle, also referred to as an overnight drying cycle, so as to provide washed and dried articles to the user without the need for the user to, e.g., stay up later than desired or wake up earlier than desired, to switch the washed clothes to a drier after washing. The combination of a wash and overnight drying cycle can be configured to last approximately as long as the expected sleep time of the user, so the dried clothes do not have time to settle within the wash drum and, e.g., develop wrinkles.
During an overnight drying cycle, the washing machine appliance can dry the articles by rotating the wash drum within the wash tub using the washer motor, and by providing airflow to the wash drum to remove moisture from the air and the articles using a blower. Additionally, the articles may be dried without supplying any external heat to the airflow. Generally, air is introduced through an inlet port positioned in the wash tub, flows through the plurality of holes in the wash drum, and then exits through an exhaust port positioned near the opening of the wash drum.
The blower generally requires a separate blower motor connected to a main power supply, such that during e.g., an overnight drying cycle, both the washer motor and blower motor may be operating. Certain problems can exist with such a configuration, however. For example, running the blower using a separate blower motor through the duration of an overnight drying cycle can require a significant amount of additional power. Accordingly, a washing machine appliance having one or more features that can reduce the amount of power used during operation of the blower and the washer motor would be useful.